Apparatus for regulating the air-supply for gas-producers.



H. L. DOHYERTY APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE AIR SUPPLY FOR GAS PRODUCERS.

APPLICATION FILED-T111345, 1910. l mlfi m Patented June 30,1914.

Henry Lnoherty,

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fee

To all whom it may concern:

nanny L. DOHERTY, or new arena, in. Y.

BJFPLRATUS FOR EEGULATING THE AIR-SUPPLY FOR GAS-PRODUCERS.

Specification of Eett'ers Eatent.

rammed June so, iii-91a.

Application filed February 15, 1910. Serial No. 544,097. l..

- Be i known that I, HENRY L. Donnn'ric, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of ffsiew York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus'for Regulating the Air-Supply for Gas-Producers, of which the following:

is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for regulating the air supply for gas producers and, particularly, to gas producers burning bituminous coal.

The object of my invention is to furnish in connection with such producers an ap paratus which Will provide for a uniform make of combustible gas in the producer and consequently for uniform conditions of combustion in the furnace in WhlCli. the combustible gas is burned.

When'gas coal is used in the producer, great irregularity is occasioned in the make of gas, due to the rapid distillation of gas from the coal, immediately after the latter has been charged onto the bed of incandes cent fuel in the producer. The result is that, for an appreciable time after charging, the make of gas in the producer is increased by the volume of gas distilled from the coal. Unless the air supplied to the furnace is increased to correspond, the result is that a considerable quantity of combustible passes through the furnace unconsumed, to be later burned at the stack or to pass into the air unburned, as the case may be. In the latter case an explosive mixture is formed in the stack and connecting fiues, entailing constant risk of destructive explosions.

Briefly, my invention consists in a means for cutting off the air supply to the gas producer of a furnace of the type mentioned immediately after the insertion of the charge of raw coal, and gradually turning on the air supply again as the distillation of gas from the raw coal falls off-the air being turncd on at such a rate that the quantity of combustible supplied to the furnace is maintained, as nearly as may be, constant.

While I do not limit myself to the use of my invention in connection with any particular type of furnace, I have shown it, in the accompanying drawings, applied to the gas producer of 'a gas bench, which is operated on a draft current of mixed air and tlue gases. I It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, but may be used in connection with any type of gas producer whethcroperatcd on forced or induced draft. In the latter case the-valve member of the apparatus may bea simple gate or vane.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents the front elevation of a gas bench with my invention applied thereto, the regulating cylinder of the valve being shown in vertical cross section. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the gas bench to the producer of which my invention is applied.

1, is the gas producing chamber of the producer, 2 the air injector, 3 the air regulating valve, 4% the main air line, 4 the air connection from 4 to the nozzle of injector 2, 5 the retort oven of the gas bench with retorts 6 set therein, 7 is the charging chute of the gas producer 1.

he method of operating the apparatus is as follows :A bed of ignited fuel having been built up in the gas producer in the manner well known to those skilled in the art, the air for supporting combustion in the gas producer enters through the nozzle 8, inducing a draft of combustion gases through the flues 9, which are connected to the tines through which the combustion gases are Withdrawn from the retort oven. The mixed draft current of air and products of combustion discharge through the injector passage 10, under the grate 11 of the producer. Passing up through the fuel on grate 11 the oxygen and CO of the draft current reactwith thecarbon of the fuel thus,

forming producer gas. This passes through the gas nostrils 12, into the retort oven of the gas bench and is burned. by air admitted through the air nostrils 13. The hot products of combustion sweep around the retorts and discharge from the oven through suitable oif-takeflues, to which the fines 9 are connected. ()n the air-pipe 4. is located the air regulating valve This ,is simply an ordinary throttle valve 8 on whose stem 26 is mounted a regulating cylinder 19, having a piston 14, and an operating lever 1.6. The

and it has a-grip 18 at its free end. The arm of 16 is preferably divided in the same man- 1 nor asthe arm of an ordinary beam scale. A weight 15, is mounted on 16 so as to be capable of adjustment in position longitudinally of 16. The cylinder 19 is p ably supported in rigid connection with the valve 3. A pipe 20 connects the two ends of the cylinder and has a check valve 21 interposed in it. This valve permits of an unobstructed flow of liquid from the upper side of piston 14 to the lower side but prevents flow in the reverse direction. A pipe 22 of small bore likewise connects the two 1 ends of the cylinder and has interposed in it a needle-valve 23. This valve 23 is capable of fine adjustment so that only a very small stream of liquid can flow'from the lower to the upper side of the piston while the flow through 20, as explained above, is free and permits of a rapid transfer of liquid from the upper to the lower side of the p' ton. It will be seen that by raising the lever 16 the valve stem 26 is moved upward, closing the valve 8. When 16 is released the action of the weight tends to depress the lever 16, carrying the piston 14 downward and again opening the valve 3. This motion of lit is opposed-by the liquid (preferably oil in the cylinder 19 which can only pass rom the lower to the upper side of the piston through the small pipe 22 and needle-valve 23. By adjusting the valve 23 and the position ofthe weight 15 on the arm 16 the freearea of the passage and'the pressure producing flow may both be varied. Thus the time required for the valve-3' to again open to its full extent may be varied to suit the requirements of each particular case.

The method of applying my invention is as follows :At intervals, coal is charged through the charging chute 7 onto the fuel bed. in the producer. contact with the hot fuel, its volatile matter is subjected to destructive distillation with a the formation of coal gas in the Well known manner. Since the theoretical proportion of air required for the combustion of 1 cu. ft. of coal gas is about 6 cu. ft., while for the combustion of the producer gas only 1.12- cu.

' ft. of air are theoretically required, it is easily seen that, in the customary method of operating the producer, a large-quantity of combustible gas will pass unburned through the furnace (or retort oven in this case) unless the proportionof air supplied to the retort oven through 13 is largely increased. This cannot be conveniently done, and would, at any rate, introduce great irregularity into the operation of the gas bench if carried out. By my method of conducting the combustion, immediately before or after charging the raw coal the'operator raises the refer.-

As the coal heats from lever 16, thus, as above explained, displacing the'oil in 19 from the upper to the lower side of the piston 14 and closing valve 3. The closing of 3 momentarily cuts oif the air supply to the producer. The quantity of air discharging into the retort oven through the nostrils 13, however, remains fairly constant since this is regulated simply by the draft of the bench and the air dampers. The combustible gas passing through thegas nostrils 12 is, at this point, almost exclusively coal gas, which is distilled off from the raw coal. [Under the pressure exerted b weight, however, the valve 3 immediately afterr closing, begins to gradually open again, the oil flowing slowly through the valve 22 from the lower to the upper side of the piston. Air is thus again supplied to the producer and the make of producer gas temporarily interrupted is thus again started and gradually increased as the opening of valve 3 sn plies more and more air to the fuel bed 0 the producer. of gas from the raw coal is at first rapid, the gas being very rich. As the distillation proceeds, both the quantity and quality of the distilled gas falls off. The gradual increase in the air supply, during this period, increases the make of producer gas at a rate that should be adjusted (by the position of weight 15 and adjustment of needle-valve 22) to correspond with and compensate for the diminution in the production of coal gas, thus maintaining a fairly uniform supply of combustible to the retort furnace. Instead of completely closing valve 3', by adjusting the collar 28, which is fastened in any position on 26 by set-screw 29, the de-' gree to which the valve 3 is shut may be regulated to any desired extent. This method of operating may be advantageous where the charges are made at frequent intervals, but are small in quantity.

Having described my invention, What I claim is:

1. In combination, a gas-producer, a conduit for conducting to said gas-producer the air required to support the combustion therein, a regulating valve on said air conduit, saidregulating valve comprising a valve member proper and a regulating member, the said regulating member comprising a cylinder having a piston therein, said piston being rigidly mounted upon the valve stem of said valve member,'a pipe connection connecting the two ends of said cylinder, a check valve on said connection, said check valve being adapted to permit a flow of liquid in but one direction through said connection, a second connection connecting the two ends of said cylinder, and an adjustable valve on said second connection.

2. In combination, a gas-producer, a conduit for conducting to said gas-producer the air required to support the combustion therethe The distillation in, a regulating valve on said air conduit, said regulating valve comprising a valve member proper and a regulating member, the said regulating member comprising a cylinder having a piston therein, said piston being rigidly mounted upon the valve stem of said valve member, a pipe connection connecting the two ends of said cylinder, a check-valve on said connection, said checkvalve being adapted to permit a flow of liquid in but one direction through said connection, a second connection connecting the two ends of said cylinder, an adjustable valve on said second connection for regulating the flow of liquid therethrough, and an operating lever for communicating motion to the valve stem of said valve member.

3. In combination, a gas-producer, a conduit for conducting to said gas-producer the air required to support the combustion therein, a regulating valve on said air conduit, said regulating valve comprising a valve member proper, and a regulating member, the said regulating member comprising a cylinder having a piston therein, said piston being rigidly mounted upon the valve stem of said valve member, a passage connecting the two ends of said cylinder and adapted to permit the fiow ofliquid from one side to the other of said piston, a check-valve on said passage, a second passage connecting the two ends of said cylinder, an adjustable valve on said second passage for regulating the flow of liquid therethrough, an operating lever attached to the valve stem of said valve member for communicating a motion in onethe valve-stem of said valve member, a passage conneeting the two ends of said cylinder and adapted to permit the flow of liquid from one side to the other of said piston, a check-valve on said passage, a second passage connecting the two ends of said cylinder, an adjustable valve on said second passage for regulating the flow of liquid therethrough, an operating lever, adapted to communicate motion to said valve-stem, one extremity of said lever being fulcrumed in a movable link, a weight attached to said lever and capable of adjustment longitudinally of said lever, said lever being attached to said valve-stem at a point intermediate of the length of said lever, whereby a motion in one direction may be communicated to said valve-stem by moving the said lever by hand and a motion in the opposite direction by the movement of said lever under the action of said weight.

5. In combination, a gas producer, a passage for conducting to said gas producer the air required to support combustion therein, a valve on said air passage, means for actuating and regulating said valve, said actuating and regulating means comprising a chamberhaving a piston therein, a piston rod rigidly attached to said piston, a passage connecting the two extremities of said chamber, a check valve on said passage permitting the flow of liquid in but one direction through said passage from one side of said piston to the other side of the same upon displacement by said piston, means for slowly conducting said liquid back in the reverse direction to the part of said chamber that it first occupied, whereby a slow motion is communicated to said piston, and means for transmitting the motion of said piston to said valve.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 12th day of February, A. D. 1910.

HENRY L. DOHERTY.

Witnesses L. Gr. COLEMAN, Tnos. I. CARTER. 

